Last month a four-story barge was seen floating in San Francisco Bay near Treasure Island, a former US naval base. It had the appearance of a James Bond super villain’s lair – although not one that was too secret – but exactly what it was for was unknown.

By Jeffrey Jones NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A symbol of New Orleans'
devastation after Hurricane Katrina, the rust-colored barge
lodged in a ruined neighborhood, went under the blowtorch on
Friday as workers began cutting it up to haul it away.

Word of the Day

pawl

A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.